The historic region of Jutland, the area that was covered by Codex Holmiensis (Jyske Lov) covered the Jutland Peninsula area north of Eider River and included Funen, the North Jutlandic Island and other smaller islands. Much of the varying definitions of what Jutland consists of are due to differences between the Jutland peninsula considered as a geographic feature and Jutland considered as a historical political territory.

Its terrain is relatively flat, with open lands, plains and peat bogs in the west and a more elevated and slightly hilly terrain in the east.

Contents

Jutland is relatively flat, with heaths, plains and peat bogs in the west and a more elevated and slightly hilly terrain on the eastern side. The Danish portion has an area of 29,775 km2 (11,496 sq mi) and a population of 2,528,129 (2008).[2] Population density is 84 per km2 (218 per sq.mi.).

The northernmost part of Jutland is separated from the mainland by the Limfjord but is still commonly reckoned as part of the peninsula. It only became an island following a flood in 1825. The area is called the North Jutlandic Island, Vendsyssel-Thy (after its districts) or simply Jutland north of the Limfjord; it is only partly coterminous with the region called North Jutland.

The islands Læsø, Anholt and Samsø in Kattegat and Als at the rim of the Baltic Sea South are administratively and historically tied to Jutland, although the latter two are also regarded as traditional districts of their own. Inhabitants of Als would agree to be South Jutlanders, but not necessarily Jutlanders.

The Danes took considerable steps to protect themselves from the depredations of the ChristianFrankish emperors, principally with the building of the Danevirke, a wall stretching across South Jutland at the shortest distance from the North Sea to the Baltic Sea.

To speed transit between the Baltic and the North Sea, canals have been built across the peninsula, notably the Eiderkanal in the late 18th century and the Kiel Canal, completed in 1895 and still in use.

During World War I, the Battle of Jutland in the North Sea was one of the largest naval battles in history. In this pitched battle, the BritishRoyal Navy engaged the Imperial German Navy leading to heavy casualties and ship losses on both sides. The battle was initially regarded a German victory, based on the total number of capital ships sunk and the number of sailors killed. However, the British fleet remained in control of the North Sea and so in strategic terms most commentators regard Jutland either as a British Pyrrhic victory or as indecisive.

Typical of Jutland are the distinctive Jutish (or Jutlandic)dialects which differ substantially from Standard Danish, especially West Jutlandic and South Jutlandic. Dialect usage, although in decline, is better preserved in Jutland than in eastern Denmark, and the dialect-speaking Jutlander remains a stereotype among many Copenhageners and eastern Danes.

The southern third of the Jutland peninsula is made up of the GermanBundesland of Schleswig-Holstein. Schleswig-Holstein comprises two parts, the former duchies of Schleswig (Danish fief) and Holstein (German fief), both of which have passed back and forth between Danish and German rulers several times. The last adjustment of the Danish–German border followed the Schleswig Plebiscites in 1920 and resulted in Denmark's regaining Northern Schleswig (Danish: Nordslesvig or more commonly today: Sønderjylland).

The historical southern border of Jutland is the river Eider, which is also the border between the former duchies of Schleswig and Holstein, as well as the historical border between the Danish and German realms from c. 800 to 1864. Although most of Schleswig-Holstein is geographically part of the Jutland peninsula, most German residents there would not identify themselves with Jutland or even as "Jutlanders", but rather with North Germany (German: Norddeutschland) and Schleswig-Holstein and consider themselves Northern Germans (German: Norddeutsche) and Schleswig-Holsteiner.